1.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth

2.
1580
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Year 1580 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, and a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Proleptic Gregorian calendar. January 31 – Henry, King of Portugal dies with no direct heirs, march 1 – Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. They are published later the same year, the Philippine Dynasty rule lasts until 1640. April 6 – Dover Straits earthquake, june – England signs a commercial treaty with the Ottoman Empire. June 11 – Juan de Garay founds Buenos Aires, june 25 – The Book of Concord, a collection of Lutheran confessional documents, is published. July 12 – The Ostrog Bible, the first complete printed Bible translation into a Slavic language, is first printed at Ostroh in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by Ivan Fyodorov, the Billy Mitchell volcano on the island of Bougainville undergoes a catastrophic eruption. The first session of the Jewish Vaad is held in Lublin, Poland,70 delegates of Jewish local qahals meet to discuss taxation, old City of Zamość established in Poland by Jan Zamoyski. Jesuit missionaries arrive at the court of Akbar, Ruler of the Mughal Empire

3.
Philip II of Spain
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Philip II of Spain, called the Prudent, was King of Spain, King of Portugal, King of Naples and Sicily, and jure uxoris King of England and Ireland. He was also Duke of Milan, from 1555, he was lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands. Known in Spain as Felipe el Prudente, his empire included territories on every continent then known to Europeans, during his reign, Spain reached the height of its influence and power. This is sometimes called the Golden Age, the expression, the empire on which the sun never sets, was coined during Philips time to reflect the extent of his dominion. During Philips reign there were separate state bankruptcies in 1557,1560,1569,1575 and this was partly the cause of the declaration of independence that created the Dutch Republic in 1581. The Ambassador went on to say He dresses very tastefully, the culture and courtly life of Spain were an important influence in his early life. He was tutored by Juan Martínez Siliceo, the future Archbishop of Toledo, Philip displayed reasonable aptitude in arms and letters alike. Later he would study with more illustrious tutors, including the humanist Juan Cristóbal Calvete de Estrella, though Philip had good command over Latin, Spanish, and Portuguese, he never managed to equal his father, Charles V, as a polyglot. While Philip was also a German archduke of the House of Habsburg, Philip felt himself to be culturally Spanish, he had been born in Spain and raised in the Castilian court, his native tongue was Spanish, and he preferred to live in Spain. This would ultimately impede his succession to the imperial throne, in April 1528, when Philip was eleven months old, he received the oath of allegiance as heir to the crown from the Cortes of Castile. Philip was also close to his two sisters, María and Juana, and to his two pages, the Portuguese nobleman Rui Gomes da Silva and Luis de Requesens, the son of his governor Juan de Zúñiga. These men would serve Philip throughout their lives, as would Antonio Pérez, Philips martial training was undertaken by his governor, Juan de Zúñiga, a Castilian nobleman who served as the commendador mayor of Castile. The practical lessons in warfare were overseen by the Duke of Alba during the Italian Wars, Philip was present at the Siege of Perpignan in 1542 but did not see action as the Spanish army under Alba decisively defeated the besieging French forces under the Dauphin of France. On his way back to Castile, Philip received the oath of allegiance of the Aragonese Cortes at Monzón. The king-emperors interactions with his son during his stay in Spain convinced him of Philips precocity in statesmanship, Philip, who had previously been made the Duke of Milan in 1540, began governing the most extensive empire in the world at the young age of sixteen. Charles left Philip with experienced advisors—notably the secretary Francisco de los Cobos, Philip was also left with extensive written instructions that emphasised piety, patience, modesty, and distrust. These principles of Charles were gradually assimilated by his son, who would grow up to become grave, self-possessed, personally, Philip spoke softly and had an icy self-mastery, in the words of one of his ministers, he had a smile that cut like a sword. After living in the Netherlands in the years of his reign

4.
Gaspar de Borja y Velasco
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Gaspar de Borja y Velasco was a Spanish cardinal, ecclesiastic and politician. He belonged to the house of Borgia and served as Primate of Spain, Archbishop of Seville, Archbishop of Toledo, gaspars mother was Juana Enríquez de Velasco y de Aragón, daughter of Iñigo Tovar y Fernández de Velasco, 4th Duke of Frías and 10th Constable of Castile. He graduated from the Universidad Complutense, in the Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso and he owed his rise through the church hierarchy to Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, a favourite in the court of Philip III. He was made a cardinal in August 1611 by Pope Paul V, as cardinal priest of Santa Susanna, part of the grounds for Spains complaint lay in unfounded rumours of the pope siding with the Protestant Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. In response, the pope changed his policy somewhat and made a contribution to the Spanish exchequer, however, Borjas approach to the pope had lacked diplomacy and in retaliation Urban forced him out of Rome in 1634 and had Spain dismiss him as their ambassador. Borja then returned to the Archdiocese of Seville, of which he was already archbishop and he is buried in the Cathedral of Toledo. In the 1632 series of alternate history fiction novels, the South European thread is a series of novels in which Borja is the villain. He attempts to depose and kill Urban VIII, who is perceived by Spain as sympathetic to Gustavus Adolphus, Borja, exceeding his orders from Madrid, has a rump consistory declare him Pope, but is widely dismissed as an anti-pope. Der Herzog von Lerma und die Kronkardinäle Philipps III. von Spanien, die Jagd nach dem roten Hut, hrsg. von Arne Karsten. The Cardinals of the Roman Church

5.
Francisco de Quevedo
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Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his rival, Luis de Góngora, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo and this style existed in stark contrast to Góngoras culteranismo. Quevedo was born in Madrid into a family of hidalgos from the village of Vejorís and his family was descended from the Castilian nobility. Quevedo matured surrounded by dignitaries and nobility at the royal court, intellectually gifted, Quevedo was physically handicapped with a club foot, and myopia. Since he always wore pince-nez, his name in the plural, quevedos, orphaned by the age of six, he was able to attend the Imperial School run by the Jesuits in Madrid. He then attended university at Alcalá de Henares from 1596 to 1600, by his own account, he made independent studies in philosophy, classical languages, Arabic, Hebrew, French and Italian. In 1601, Quevedo, as a member of the Court, moved to Valladolid, where the Court had been transferred by the Kings minister, the Duke of Lerma. There he studied theology, a subject that would become a lifelong interest, by this time, he was becoming noted as both a poet and a prose writer. Some of his poetry was collected in a 1605 generational anthology by Pedro Espinosa entitled Flores de Poetas Ilustres, around this time, he began a very erudite exchange of letters with the humanist Justus Lipsius, in which Quevedo deplored the wars that were ravaging Europe. The Court returned to Madrid in 1606, and Quevedo followed, by then, he was a well-known and accomplished man-of-letters. He befriended and was praised by Miguel de Cervantes and Lope de Vega, Quevedos enemies included, among others, the dramatist Juan Ruiz de Alarcón for, despite his own physical handicaps, Quevedo found Alarcóns redheaded and hunchbacked physique a source of amusement. Quevedo also attacked Juan Pérez de Montalbán, the son of a bookseller with whom he had quarrelled, satirizing him in La Perinola, in 1608, Quevedo dueled with the author and fencing master Luis Pacheco de Narváez as a result of Quevedo criticizing one of Pachecos works. Quevedo took off Pachecos hat in the first encounter and they remained enemies all their lives. In Quevedos Buscón, this duel was parodied with a fencer relying on mathematical calculations having to run away from a duel with an experienced soldier. He was present at the church of San Martín in Madrid when a woman praying there was slapped on the cheek by another man who had rushed up to her, Quevedo seized the man, dragging him outside the church. The two men drew swords, and Quevedo ran his opponent through, the man, who died of his wounds some time later, was someone of importance. Quevedo thus retired temporarily to the palace of his friend and patron, Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna

6.
1588 in Spain
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Events in the year 1588 in Spain. The English fleet is under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham with Sir Francis Drake as Vice Admiral, july 23 - The English and Spanish fleets meet again, off Portland, the English again have the better of it. July 29 - The English fleet defeats the Armada at the Battle of Gravelines, august 2 - The fleeing Spanish fleet sails past the Firth of Forth and the English call off their pursuit. Much of the Spanish fleet will be destroyed by storms as it sails for home around Scotland and Ireland. September 23-November 13 - Siege of Bergen op Zoom, Spanish siege defeated by Dutch garrison October 26 - Conspiracy of the Maharlikas, governor-General Santiago de Vera is informed of the plot by Captain Pedro Sarmiento, encomendero of Calamianes. De Vera orders the arrest and execution of the conspirators, february 9 - Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz